Changing Auras
by Scotty91
Summary: Harry begins to adjust and change as the world around him shifts. What will these changes mean for his chosen path? Deviates from cannon after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

_This was a project born of boredom and in case anyone needs reminding; I own absolutely nothing. All publishing rights etc belong to J.K Rowling and affiliated companies. So yeah, I make no money from this and neither does my esteemed beta. This is simply a labour of love._

Chapter 1:

With a sense of trepidation and resignation a young man with messy black hair and emerald green eyes heaved himself out of his seat. Unlike the rest of his peers the summer holidays were not something he ever looked forward to. They however were normal, he most definitely was not. In fact his hatred of the summer holidays was not one of the most unique things about him. For one thing he was a wizard and not any old wizard but as he had recently been informed, he was the prophesised defeater of the darkest wizard of the last 300 years, Voldemort. That fact alone would be enough to send anyone around the twist. This was but the tip of the iceberg when it came to this young man. He had killed a basilisk, outflown a dragon, swam with mermen, fought for his life against said dark wizard no less than 4 times and he had done all this by the tender age of 15. He was of course, Harry Potter.

He unlatched the door and slid it open and began the slow walk out to the platform. He felt the 'dead man walking' music should be playing. It would be appropriate. As he walked he realised for once he was making this trip alone. Ron and Hermione were with the head boy and girl and the rest of the prefects having their end of year debrief, I suppose you could call it. Hermione had insisted she not miss it, even though she was not yet fully recovered. Neville and Luna had their own compartment. A small smile crossed his face, he was happy for the pair of them. Ginny was off with her newest _friend_ Dean Thomas. Harry was less pleased with this turn of events but it wasn't his place to interfere. His thought began drifting to the Ministry incident and...No he wasn't ready to face that yet. Arriving at the luggage compartment, he spotted one of his truest friends.

"Hey girl," he murmured softly stroking her feathers between the cage bars

Hedwig turned her head and regarded him briefly before nibbling his fingers in an affectionate sort of way.

"We're headed back to the hell hole today. You know you don't have to come with me, I could let you out and you could go stay with Ron, Hermione or even the owlery at Hogwarts," he told her.

She turned back to him and looked offended that he would even suggest it. She bit his fingers in a decidedly less affectionate fashion.

"Well that answers that question," he muttered to himself.

Grabbing his trunk and Hedwig's cage he headed out the door. Before he cleared the threshold, however, he was knocked clean off his feet by what looked to be a red headed blur. He managed to ensure Hedwig wasn't injured during the fall at the cost of his head hitting the ground with a sickening crack. His vision was swimming.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Here let me help you," the redhead blur stammered.

She literally was a blur now as his glasses had been knocked off with the impact. He felt around for his glasses and finding them put them back on. Susan Bones came into focus and was offering him a hand. After taking the proffered hand and being hauled to his feet, he regarded the girl in front of him. She was a few inches shorter than him, and while she could not be called fat, she definitely had curves. This was further outline by her well-developed chest. Harry felt a blush creeping across his face and meeting Susan's storm cloud grey eyes he saw she had the beginnings of a blush as well.

She continued to apologise until he held up a hand cutting off her attempts.

"Susan it is perfectly alright, I have had far worse, trust me." He stated

"I'm still sorry Harry, Hannah is at the prefect meeting and I nodded off and Aunty will lose her mind if I am late," she replied

"Well let's not keep her waiting then,"

Gathering his luggage and Hedwig as well Susan's and giving her a small smile, he disembarked the train and followed Susan to where a rather sever women was waiting.

"Susan, where have you been?" she asked sharply

"Sorry Aunty, I fell asleep on the train and then ran into Harry," Susan replied

Harry grinned at the turn of phrase.

"Mr Potter," Amelia Bones turned to regard him

"Quite the adventure you and your friends have had this year. Teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts to your peers, illegally I might add. To storming the ministry after which you fight members of You – Know – Who's inner circle, for reasons that aren't known to the Ministry at this time. Care to shed some light on the issue?"

"With respect, ma'am. No, I don't. My motives are my own. Also, it's Voldemort, not "You-Know-Who."

He watched Amelia shudder and heard Susan let a small squeak.

He heaved a sigh.

"It's just a name. A made up name in fact although I'm sure you already know that. In fact it is a mix up of; Marvolo Riddle. Scramble the letters up and you get; "I am lord Voldemort". Have a good day ma'am, Susan have a good summer and send me an owl at some point,"

He turned on his heel and began to walk away he easily spotted the Weasleys as the platform was mostly deserted.

"Mr Potter,"

He looked back over his shoulder.

"Thank you,"

With a curt nod he continued on his way.

He greeted the Weasleys and accepted the bone breaking hug from Mrs Weasley. He led them through the barrier separating the platform from muggle London. He listened to Mad Eye as he informed him of the warning his _family _had received. He thought it was a dubious proposal at best. After wishing everyone a pleasant summer, he turned to face his uncle, who was very nearly purple in the face. This is a good start he thought to himself.

"Get in the car you freak," his uncle snarled

Oh yes, this was going to be a brilliant summer. He might have to be a little inventive.

As soon as the door was closed his Uncle began screaming at the top of his lungs. It was the usual tirade. How dare Harry make him wait, that he had better things to do with his time than pick up a freak like him, how dare he have his freaky friends threaten him like that.

"You have always welcomed me back though," Harry responded at one point

"You have never been welcome in our house, freak. It has never been your home" his Uncle roared back.

"You're not welcome, you are tolerated and as far as I'm concerned you're not family," his aunt interjected with a sniff.

This continued for the next ten minutes until Harry had had enough.

"Look Uncle, the bottom line here is if those freaky friends don't hear from me or hear that you are mistreating me, they will come for a visit and I think you remember what has happened all the other times wizards have stopped over for tea."

His uncle stopped mid rant.

"You'll tell them we are treating you right boy or I will beat it into you that we treat you fine," he threatened.

Harry just laughed. It wasn't a normal sounding laugh, it actually sounded somewhat demented.

"Uncle, do you honestly think that my letters are the only way they'll know if I'm being treated right? I'd be very surprised if there wasn't someone watching the house every hour of every day."

His uncle fell silent at that, contemplating that the freaks were watching him.

"Another thing uncle, you seem to have forgotten that when I turn 17 I myself will be able to legally perform magic,"

He left the threat hanging in the air. Harry grinned when he saw his uncle turn from a dark purple to a pasty white. Satisfied that his family would leave him alone for the remainder of the trip, his thoughts became far more retrospective.

By the time he arrived at Privet Drive he had come to several important conclusions. For one thing, Voldemort and his allies had taken far too much from him. They had murdered his family attack his friends and tried to kill him more times than he cared to number and he responded with stunning spells and disarming charms. He let out a snort. If he had been more decisive then Sirius might still be alive. While he believed in mercy and justice, he vowed from that moment on that while in battle he would fight fire with fire.

Harry also decided that it was time to deal with all the rage, pain, guilt and self-doubt that was slowly killing him as sure as Voldemort was trying to. He decided to take all those emotions and lay them at the feet of the one man who truly deserved the blame, one Tom Marvolo Riddle.

He would also no longer allow his life to be dictated by anyone else other than himself. Dumbledore may have thought he was doing the right thing by him; but he had no right to control nearly every aspect of Harry's life. While the old man had done nothing intentionally malicious, he had been put in danger more than once thanks to Dumbledore's idea of the "Greater Good". That would stop.

As they pulled into Privet Drive, Harry had the distinct feeling that he was being watched. He no longer chalked this up to mere paranoia. Complacency and assumptions lead to deaths in war and that was indeed what he found himself in the middle of. He drew his wand from his pocket, making a mental note to pick up a wand holster the next time he was in Diagon Alley.

"Uncle, take everyone inside please,"

"What the devil are you talking about boy?"

His uncle's eyes fell on Harry's wand, he looked like he was about to start yelling but something Harry's eyes must have convinced his Uncle of the seriousness of the situation. With a sharp nod he led his family inside. Harry hid his wand up his left sleeve and stepped out of the car. He made a show of lugging his trunk out of the car, presenting his back as a target, all the while listening intently.

He heard the slow inhale and exhale of someone breathing behind him, a twig snapped as someone approached and Harry sprang into action. Driving his elbow out as he spun, he felt it connect with an invisible figure. Still turning he drew his wand and had it out and poised to start duelling, the tip of his wand glowing a dark crimson colour.

"Bloody hell Harry, what I ever do to you?" Tonks asked

"Sneaking up on me while invisible is a good place to start. Now what do you always trip over in Grimauld place?" Harry asked his wand still glowing crimson.

"That damned troll leg umbrella stand. You've been spending too much time around Mad Eye,"

"Yes well, 'Constant vigilance!" and all that Tonks." Harry said with a smile.

As they were trading barbs, Harry looked Tonks up and down. While she had her customary bubble gum pink hair, she was also obviously very fit on account of the Auror training. Harry had noticed he was taking more and more notice of women these days and Tonks was definitely all women.

"Like what you see Potter?" Tonks asked with a coy smile

Harry was mortified that he had been caught staring but was determined not to show it. He decided in this instance honesty was the better option

"I don't know Tonks, this form is definitely appealing but as I have never seen the real you without any changes, I honestly can't say whether I find you attractive or not,"

Tonks stared at Harry for a drawn out moment as if revaluating her opinions of him.

"Maybe one day, Harry. Until then Dumbledore wanted me to give you these. A bit of light reading for the summer,"

She handed over a number of books that all looked like the kind of things that Hermione would kill to read for half an hour. Looking at the top one in the pile which was entitled _Advanced Magical Theory _Harry decided that they would come in handy.

"Thanks for the books, Tonks. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime Harry, Dumbledore took them out of his personal library. Just so you know someone will be watching the house the whole time and in light of those muggles being the way they are we have place several monitoring charms inside the house, so if they try anything the guard will know. We decided to overlook the legal issues of doing so, Dumbledore says your safety and happiness is more important."

Harry just grunted in response. He wasn't quite ready to forgive the benevolent headmaster just yet.

"I'll see you later Tonks,"

"Ok Harry, I'll be out here if you need me," she replied throwing her cloak back on.

Harry opened his trunk and threw the books inside. Gathering all his belongings along with Hedwig, he went to his bedroom, managing to avoid his family along the way.

Harry took out a bobby pin that he hid under his mattress and picked the lock on Hedwig's cage. The twins had taught him how to do it after his rescue back in his second year. With a hoot of thanks Hedwig settled in for a nap before beginning her night's hunt. Stroking her feathers Harry stared out the window watching the sun slowly set and knew that out there somewhere Voldemort and his followers were waiting for him. With a sigh Harry pulled himself from his depressing thoughts and after stowing his belongings under the loose floorboard, minus his cloak and Dumbledore's copy of _Advanced Magical Theory_. He lay out on his bed and began to read.

Sometime later Harry was startled out of his reading by Hedwig flying back into the room. He took the paper from her and fed her a few owl treats in thanks. With a pleased look she flew into her cage and began nibbling on a field mouse she had caught.

Ignoring the paper for now Harry began to consider what he had read. When he started reading he was afraid that the book would be frightfully dull but it was both interesting and informative. According to the book all magic generated an aura of sorts around witches and wizards, the stronger the aura the stronger the witch or wizard. Some pulsed while others radiated out in solid waves. Harry's mind flashed to Dumbledore's office, when he had felt the power surging off the elderly headmaster in waves. With practise a witch or wizard could learn to sense these auras and once the talent had been mastered the witch or wizard would be able to distinguish an individual by just their aura due to every aura being unique. The more practised they were the further out they would be able to sense.

Harry immediately saw this as being extremely useful, as it could be used as an early warning system and wouldn't be fooled by things such as invisibility cloaks, disillusionment charms and Polyjuice potions.

Settling into a mediative state as suggested by the book, Harry began to search for his aura. The book said it was more akin to a sixth sense or feeling than anything solid like being able to see it. After a fruitless amount of time searching during which the young wizard became most frustrated, Harry sensed a spark of energy coming off him. It was bright and clear and seemed to him at least to be pure. He followed this spark to its source and after some experimentation; he felt his aura surrounding him. It radiated, sparkled and snapped all around him. With a huge grin Harry opened his eyes and looked at the time, 2:45am. He'd been at it for the last seven hours and hadn't even realised.

With a weary sigh he decided he'd skim the paper and call it a night. It wasn't like he had anything to do tomorrow as his family would no longer be forcing him to work like a house elf. Harry was struck by a sudden stroke of inspiration.

"Umm…Dobby?" he called out tentatively.

With a sharp crack Dobby appeared in his room and launched himself at Harry's legs.

"Harry Potter, sir, calls Dobby. What can Dobby do for the great and noble Harry Potter sirs?"

"Dobby, shhh. I don't want to wake up my family. I asked you here because I have a proposition for you."

"What does Harry Potter Sirs want of Dobby?"

"Dobby I know you are happy at Hogwarts and I completely understand if you don't want to but I was wondering if you would like to come and work for me?"

Dobby flopped down on the floor and began sobbing uncontrollably.

"It's been Dobby's dream to work for the great and noble Harry Potter sir ever since he freed me from nasty former master. Dobby would be honoured to work for Harry Potter.

"Excellent, ummm what do I have to do to make it official?" Harry asked

Dobby coached Harry through what had to be said.

"I Harry James Potter of House Potter, take into my ownership Dobby son of Tobby, to serve and uphold the House of Potter from this day forward."

"I Dobby son of Tobby recognise Harry James Potter as his master and solemnly swear to serve and uphold the House of Potter until my dying day,"

A bright flash of pure white light later and both occupants of the room where grinning from ear to ear.

"Now Dobby, I don't want a slave or servant, I want a friend. How much do you want in return for your service?" Harry asked

"Dobby will accept nothing for serving Harry Potter sir,"

No matter how Harry pleaded Dobby refused to budge from his position.

"Fine Dobby in that case you will receive benefits for working for me and please just call me Harry."

"Very well Harry Potter sir," Dobby replied

Dobby suddenly looked horrified and began beating his head into the wall. Harry restrained Dobby.

"Dobby you are ordered never to harm yourself. If you think you have done something to warrant punishment, come talk to me about it and we will work something out. OK?"

"Yes Harry, thanking you,"

"Now Dobby, are you able to work here without the Ministry picking up on your magic?" Harry asked

"Oh yes Harry, they won't be a problem,"

"Very well Dobby, my family normally has me do all the cooking cleaning and gardening for them. Would you be able to do that without them knowing?"

"Yes Harry, no problems at all,"

"Brilliant, I will cook dinner so my family can see me still doing something and I will just tell them I got up early and did all the work before they got up."

"Very well, can Dobby begin cleaning?" asked the elf with a hopeful expression on his face.

"Sure Dobby just make sure you eat and sleep properly as well,"

With a bow and a whispering crack Dobby disappeared from the room.

Harry looked over to his clock again. 3:30am. With a groan Harry decided bed was in order and collapsed onto his bed and was asleep before he even hit the mattress.

A/N:

_Okay so that is chapter one, now several things to keep in mind. This is my first real stab at writing anything ever, that being said I appreciate any and all constructive criticism. Flamers need not apply, if you don't like what I am writing then by all means, don't feel obligated to read it. Big thanks to my Beta as well, who is pure awesome._

_Beta Note. If anyone can find something I have missed, please don't hesitate to point it out. LFuCkToY_


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: **

_Same deal as last time guys, I still own nothing, make no money from this and all rights go to their respective parties._**  
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Chapter 2:

Harry awoke the next morning to a meaty fist slamming his door opened.

"Boy," his uncle roared "What the devil is going on?"

"What are you talking about uncle?" Harry asked

"All the jobs are done. Did you use your unnaturalness to help you?"

"No Uncle I just got up early and did all the cooking and cleaning. I didn't clean your rooms obviously but I will do them today. I enjoy working in the cool of the early morning."

It was a sign of his uncle's stupidity that he actually bought it.

"Very well, boy. Good to see you aren't being your usual layabout self. The family and I are going away for the summer make I'll leave you a list of chores that have to be done by the time we get back," he snarled

With that his uncle walked out of the room slamming his door behind him. Harry checked the time it was approaching midday.

Dobby suddenly appeared beside him and handed him a tray of food. Once Harry had finished Dobby vanished with a smile and a bow.

Deciding he needed a shower, Harry gathered his belongings and headed into the shower. Once he had stripped he looked himself over in the mirror. Not counting the number of scars crossing his body, Harry conceded that there was nothing remarkable about his appearance in fact he was terribly scrawny. He figured it was due to his lack of food during the summer months. Now that was being taken care of by a fanatical elf, Harry resolved that he needed to start working out.

Once he was finished in the shower, Harry once again began poring over _Advanced Magical Theory, _until Hedwig swooped in with a paper and several letters.

He scanned yesterday's paper which outlined the events that had occurred in the ministry and called for Fudge's resignation.

Looking over today's paper, Harry noticed with some humour that support was now flooding in for both him and Dumbledore. The public was at their fickle best.

He grabbed the first letter which to his surprise was from Susan.

Dear Harry,

I just wanted to apologise again for running into you and thought it was about time I tried to get to know you, at least somewhat. Thanks to the segregation of the houses there tends to be very little interhouse friendships and the Gryffindor golden trio was an intimidating group to come up to. On another unrelated note I know you are no fan of Fudge and watch the papers over the next few days because you might see something that you will like and Harry I just wanted to thank you for your actions at the Ministry they were very brave and try not to blame yourself for those that were hurt or killed even though I imagine it would be hard not to. If you ever need to talk I am here for you Harry.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Susan Bones.

Harry's eyes were prickling by the time he finished the letter, he could tell that Susan Bones was going to be a good friend to have. He turned back to his other letters and saw that the next one was from Hermionie as he read it he let out a sigh it was a typical letter from her. Three pages discussing OWL's and homework and not once did she ask how he was. After all these years Harry knew why she was so focused on school but the need to do well in school to please authority figures was something she really needed to get over. Once he was finished with that he grabbed the next letter. As Harry picked it up he realised that it smelled very feminine almost like a meadow a wildflowers.

Dearest Harry,

Sorry to write to you out of the blue like this but it has been something that I have wanted to do for close to a year but William would never allow it. I have so much to thank you first and foremost you saved my sisters life and that is not a debt that can be repaid lightly. I know you feel that you were only doing what you had to and that you don't deserve anything for it but the fact remains that you stayed to help a little girl that everyone else including Cedric abandoned. I am writing this hoping that we might be able to see each other soon so I can thank you in person, I am currently working at the London branch of Gringotts and have every intention of staying despite Willliam and I breaking up, his jealousy and neglect just became too much. Also I noticed that you didn't have many photos of your friends apart from an album that you are rumoured to have, so once you have finished reading this letter, just tap it with your wand.

Fleur

That was a little odd but Harry didn't mind if anything it warmed him to know that Fleur thought so much of him. He put the parchment down and tapped it with his wand. The paper seemed to shudder and soon in its place stood a framed photo of Fleur. What Harry saw nearly gave him a nose bleed, Fleur was on the beach in the water in a dark blue two piece smiling a Mona Lisa smile at the camera and every so often she would wink. When Harry's mind started working again he realised that the photo was reaching around to the back of the bikini top and untying it and just before it dropped from her shoulders the picture reset itself. Needless to say it was sometime before Harry noticed the words in the bottom right hand corner. Dearest Harry hope to see you soon love Fleur. After he read them they faded and disappeared just leaving the picture. Harry almost mechanically reached for the last letter which was from Ron and detailed how he and Hermionie had begun dating.

With a snort of amusement Harry, finished reading the pile of letters and composed replies for all. Once that was complete and Hedwig was on her was he continued to read _Advanced Magical Theory, _with his eyes darting over to the picture of Fleur ever few minutes_. _In the following hours he learnt that by controlling ones aura you could control how much power was put into a spell. If you pushed at your aura while performing a spell, you could overcharge it and dramatically increase its effects. Harry filed that away for future reference and began trying to stretch his consciousness outwards to see if he could sense his guards aura. After several hours he picked a faint throbbing aura which he could only describe as playful. He assumed the faintness of the aura had nothing to do with the power of the individual but rather his own inexperience.

He was torn from his musings as he suddenly picked up a massively powerful aura appearing in the yard. He was left gasping on his bed by the sheer power of it. Centring himself, he realised it could be one person. Grabbing his wand he went to the front door and opened it just as Dumbledore was about to knock.

"Harry my boy it's a ple.."

He stopped as he found himself at the business end of Harry's wand.

"What did we discuss at the end of last term after the events of the ministry?" Harry demanded.

"We discussed a prophecy concerning you and Voldemort," Dumbledore replied calmly as Harry lowered his wand.

"Would you like to come in Professor?"

"Yes thank you Harry,"

They went through to the sitting room and Dobby appeared with a platter of tea and biscuits.

"What can I do for you today professor?" harry asked.

He had resolved to be polite to the man even if he hadn't quite forgiven him. He was sure Dumbledore had his best intentions at heart though.

"I have come to see you for two reasons. First and foremost I have come to apologise to you Harry. I only sought to prepare you for the coming battle with Voldemort to try and give you every chance of winning, while trying to give you a normal childhood. I believe I have failed on both accounts. I should have checked up on you as a child rather than to trust the Dursley's to treat you properly. I believed because they were family you would be treated as such and I never came to check on you because I was worried I would draw unwanted attention to your location. I never had anyone else check on you either because as I said I wanted you to have a normal childhood. Please forgive and old man's mistakes,"

Harry could see the sincerity burning in Dumbledore's eyes so he smiled and nodded.

"Its okay sir, I have begun to place blame where it belongs and no one is responsible for my mistreatment here apart from the Dursley's,"

Dumbledore's eyes shone with approval and pride at Harry's words.

"Through some of my associates I arranged for the Dursley's to win a competition the main prize was an all expenses paid holiday for the summer. I thought you would appreciate some peace and quiet this summer,"

Harry realised how much Dumbledore cared for him in that moment. He viewed Harry much like a favoured grandson.

"Thank you, professor. You said there were two reasons you came to visit?"

"Yes although I have worked out the answer. The monitoring spells reported a surge of magical energy last night. I came over to investigate and as the muggles say I decided to kill two birds with one stone."

Harry and Dumbledore spent the rest of the afternoon discussing a great number of topics including Harry's plans for the summer, the political climate, the books Dumbledore had lent Harry and how the hunt for a new DADA teacher was going. During the afternoon Dumbledore gave Harry an emergency portkey and told him it would take him to the Burrow, should Harry get into trouble. Harry convinced the professor to join him for dinner and revelling in having someone to cook for personally Dobby had outdone himself. After thanking both Harry and Dobby for a wonderful evening, Dumbledore disapparted.

Harry thoroughly enjoyed his time at Privet Drive for the first time in living memory. He rose at 4am every day and went for a jog, steadily increasing the distance as he progressed. As his fitness increased he began going to the park and doing chin ups and the like in the cool morning air. Arriving back at home he would complete his work out with sit ups and push ups along with a cool down. After a month at Privet Drive Harry noticed the changes due to his hard work. Wiry muscles rippled along his body and thanks to dobby's care he was finally at a healthy weight.

Harry also continued to read and practise what he could. He could now sense auras of anyone within 50 metres in any direction and it had become more like a sixth sense now requiring no conscious thought on Harry's part, he was also beginning to be able to sense magic in and of itself. He couldn't sense the wards surrounding Privet Drive, however, no matter how hard he tried. He had also completed _Advanced Magical Theory _and moved onto _Auour's and Their Tactics._

One morning after completing his workout and having a shower, Harry took the paper from Hedwig and stared at the front page in shock.

_**FUDGE VOTED OUT**_

_**AMELIA BONES BECOMES NEXT MINSTER OF MAGIC**_

_**STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED**_

In a historic move yesterday Ameila Bones, with the support of many other Head of Departments within the ministry, shocked the wizeamont by declaring a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the current Minister Cornelius Fudge. The ensuing vote saw Fudge ousted and Amelia took his place as Minister and wasting no time she and the wizeamont placed the British Wizarding world into a State of Emergence. While Minister Bones refused to comment she later released a statement declaring that this was a necessary move to ensure the good of the people and thanking her supporters. The State of Emergency means that citizens are able to use all available means when engaged by the terrorist group known as the death eaters. In a landmark move this includes the usage of the Unforgiveable Curses, which due to the power and emotions needed to cast them very few witches and wizards can actually cast. Other amendments include adjustments to the stature of secrecy and the usage of magic by underage peoples, underage witches and wizards are now authorised to use magic when engaging Death Eaters or associated groups.

Stories continue on Pages 3,5 and 7

Harry let out a laugh; he couldn't believe the government had actually done something positive and sensible for a change. Still shaking his head he went upstairs and began working on letters to Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny and surprisingly Susan as they had become quite good friends over the summer, they had both discovered they had a lot in common.

Once his letters where complete and Hedwig was on her way, Harry went down stairs and put on some music and began cooking dinner, much to Dobby's disgust.

"Hey Tonks, care to join me for dinner?"

"You can cook? Will it be safe to eat?," she asked playfully

He turned around and poked his tongue out at her.

"Careful Harry or I might start playing with that next," she said with a wink

Over the summer they had developed an interesting relationship based and teasing and flirting which Harry was only too happy with.

Over dinner with some red wine they talked about everything and nothing. The conversation flowed effortlessly between the two of them. As dinner began to wind down, there was an almighty bang of thunder and the heavens opened up, at the same time the power went out.

"Well Harry here we are all alone in the dark, whatever shall we do?" Tonks asked coyly.

"I'm up for anything you are Tonks, but first Dobby can you please set up some candles?"

Dobby waved his hand and the room was bathed in the soft glow of candle light.

"Oooh very romantic Harry, I think I'll have to stay in here with you tonight. I really don't want to go stand guard out in that. Now come on I believe you promised me a dance,"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living room and put on some soft music. They both began gliding around the living room.

"Harry I didn't know you could dance,"

"Yeah I learnt for the Yule Ball in fourth year and who knew you'd be able to dance without killing someone,"

Tonks purposefully stepped on his foot and smiled at Harry as he grimaced.

"Ok Ok you win,"

They continued to dance and talk but Harry suddenly fell silent. He felt several powerful dark auras approaching.

"Tonks if you can get a message to the order I would appreciate it. I am fairly certain up to ten death eaters are approaching, seven from the street and three from the back.

Tonks noticed that Harry's entire demeanour had changed. His eyes that just moments before had been soft, where now hard and flashing. He was stiff and tense and looked ready to kill. Tonks nodded and a patronus in the shape of a dolphin shot out of her wand.

"Dobby please lock all the doors and then go to the Burrow. Raise the alarm and you are to stay there and not try to engage any of the attacking forces for any reason. Do you understand?"

"Yes Harry Potter sir," he waved his hand then cracked away.

"Come on Tonks, upstairs my room overlooks the street. We'll have the high ground and the only way up to my room is the stairs,"

"Harry this shouldn't be possible the wards should keep them out," Tonks protested

"I haven't been able to sense any wards all summer. They must have fallen; we can work it out later Tonks for now we hit them hard then get out."

Arriving in his room he could see shadowy figures coming across the yard. After rotating his neck to crack the tendons in his neck, he took aim pushed at his aura and cried

"Reducto,"

A dark crimson beam of light lanced out from his window and impacted the ground. The explosion sent three death eaters flying and left a small crater in the lawn. The death eaters didn't get back up. Beside him Tonks began firing a purple spell at a rapid rate, two more were hit and dropped to the ground. The remaining two death eaters, returned fire with bludgeoning spells that blew out a portion of the wall. From downstairs another explosion sounded and Harry assumed that the door had just been blow out, which meant three death eaters were in the house, which meant it was time to go. He grabbed his trunk, after throwing Fleur's photo into it and grabbed Hedwig's cage which were lying neatly beside his bed with one hand and pulled out the small ring Dumbledore had given him.

"Tonks grab on," he said

He felt Tonks grab his arm. He tapped the ring with his wand and they were whisked away just as the door to his room was blown in and three stunning spells entered the room.

**Author's Notes:**

****_Apologies to all for my long absence but thanks to some rather large issues in real life, I have been unable to write any more whether due to lack of time, inspiration or motivation. I have also been on a university exchange and the work load has been immense to say the least. I am happy to say that I am back though and am resuming regular posting. This chapter has not been seen by a beta, so please alert me to any mistakes. Reviews are appreciated._


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